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The bond between restauranteur Verity Ames and her lover, Jonas Quarrel, a Renaissance scholar and dishwasher, is tested when the pair, along with a group of New Age eccentrics, hunt for medieval treasure off the coast of Washington state.Tags
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Member Reviews
Gift of Fire
3 Stars
Verity Ames and Jonas Quarrell are at a crossroads both in terms of their psychic connection and their romance. In an attempt to decide the future of their relationship one way or the other, Verity convinces Jonas to accept a job authenticating a 16th century Italian villa that has been relocated to the San Juan Islands. Once there, Verity and Jonas soon realize there is more to the job than meets the eye with murder and mayhem on the menu.
Gift of Fire continues in the same vein as the first book with Verity and Jonas's romance epitomizing the typical tropes of the 1980s bodice ripper with a domineering hero who won't take "no" for an answer, and a strong willed heroine who caves at the first sight of his manly show more chest. Most of the conflict between them results from a lack of communication, which gets annoying after a while.
That said, Verity and Jonas have incredible chemistry and the sex scenes are some of the most explicit I've encountered in Krentz's books. Moreover, there are definite glimpses of the heroes and heroines of Krentz's later books, particularly Lavinia Lake and Tobias March, and it is clear that she has grown and matured as a writer.
The mystery has an entertaining Agatha Christie like vibe with the discovery of a body and several suspects to choose from. The paranormal elements add an extra twist to the traditional formula.
In sum, a solid follow-up to the first book, but not as good as the later Arcane series books. show less
3 Stars
Verity Ames and Jonas Quarrell are at a crossroads both in terms of their psychic connection and their romance. In an attempt to decide the future of their relationship one way or the other, Verity convinces Jonas to accept a job authenticating a 16th century Italian villa that has been relocated to the San Juan Islands. Once there, Verity and Jonas soon realize there is more to the job than meets the eye with murder and mayhem on the menu.
Gift of Fire continues in the same vein as the first book with Verity and Jonas's romance epitomizing the typical tropes of the 1980s bodice ripper with a domineering hero who won't take "no" for an answer, and a strong willed heroine who caves at the first sight of his manly show more chest. Most of the conflict between them results from a lack of communication, which gets annoying after a while.
That said, Verity and Jonas have incredible chemistry and the sex scenes are some of the most explicit I've encountered in Krentz's books. Moreover, there are definite glimpses of the heroes and heroines of Krentz's later books, particularly Lavinia Lake and Tobias March, and it is clear that she has grown and matured as a writer.
The mystery has an entertaining Agatha Christie like vibe with the discovery of a body and several suspects to choose from. The paranormal elements add an extra twist to the traditional formula.
In sum, a solid follow-up to the first book, but not as good as the later Arcane series books. show less
Audiobook: I enjoyed this book. I was a bit confused as to what the mystery would be - that took a while to start. And the ending wrap-up is probably the longest that I have read by JAK. But it was all still a great way to pass 8 or so hours.
One comment - the narrator drops the ends off words when 'not' is conjoined to the word eg didn't - the narrator reads it as di'n't... I think this a accent variation within the US...
I'd like to read Gift of Gold to see where it started, but I can't find a copy to buy over here :(
One comment - the narrator drops the ends off words when 'not' is conjoined to the word eg didn't - the narrator reads it as di'n't... I think this a accent variation within the US...
I'd like to read Gift of Gold to see where it started, but I can't find a copy to buy over here :(
Did not make it thru
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304+ Works 86,468 Members
Jayne Ann Krentz was born in Borrego Springs, California on March 28, 1948. She received a B.A. in history from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master's degree in library science from San Jose State University. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked as a librarian. She has written under seven different names: Jayne show more Bentley, Amanda Glass, Stephanie James, Jayne Taylor, Jayne Castle, Amanda Quick and Jayne Ann Krentz. Her first book, Gentle Pirate, was published in 1980 under the name Jayne Castle. She currently uses only three personas to represent her three specialties. She uses the name Jayne Ann Krentz for her contemporary pieces, Amanda Quick for her historical fiction pieces, and Jayne Castle for her futuristic pieces. Her novels include Truth or Dare, All Night Long, Copper Beach, River Road, Promise not to Tell, and Untouchable.. She has received numerous awards for her work including the 1995 Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for Trust Me, the 2004 Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for Falling Awake, the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award, the Romantic Times Jane Austen Award, and the Susan Koppelman Award for Feminist Studies for Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance. In 2015 she made The New York Times Best Seller List with both Trust Me, Trust No One and Secret Sisters.. (Bowker Author Biography) Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of twenty-seven New York Times Bestselling novels. She is also the author of several other bestselling novels written under the name Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick. (Publisher Provided) show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1989-01
- People/Characters
- Jonas Quarrel; Verity Ames
- Important places
- California, USA; Pacific Northwest, USA
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 348
- Popularity
- 89,550
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.65)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 3
